Security clip

ABSTRACT

A security clip which is particularly adapted for securing a tape strip in a closed loop form has a pair of hinge connected arms normally disposed in an open, diverging attitude. One of the arms is adapted to be fastened to the end of a tape strip and carries means for engaging and securing a reach of the tape strip fed between the arms to clamp the strip in a closed loop configuration when the arms are closed. The arms carry cooperating cutting elements which sever the tape strip when the arms are closed to facilitate removal of the length of a strip excess to that required to form a closed loop of a desired size. The arms also carry cooperating latching elements which lock the clip when the arms are closed and render the clip substantially tamperproof under normal conditions of usage.

United States Patent 1 Shears July 10, 1973 SECURITY CLIP Primary Examiner-Andrew R. Juhasz Assistant Examiner-Leon Gilden l M' V inventor Stuart T Shears Be mom ass Attorney-Philip E. Parker. James R. O Connor [73] Assignee: TRW Inc., Cleveland, Ohio et al.

[22] Filed: Aug. 9, 1971 ABSTRACT [21] Appl 17016l A security clip which is particularly adapted for securing a tape strip in a closed loop form has a pair of hinge [52] US. Cl. 225/84, 40/21 C connected arms normally d spo d in a open, d erg- 51 Int. Cl B26f 3/02 g attitude One of the arms is adapted to be fastened [58] Field of Search 225/84, 78; 40/21 R, to the nd of a tape strip and carries means for engag- 40/21 C, 304; 24/248 SL ing and securing a reach of the tape strip fed between the arms to clamp the strip in a closed loop configura- [56] References Cited tion when the arms are closed. The arms carry cooper- UNITED STATES PATENTS ating cutting elements which sever the tape strip when 7 648 3 1956 S] k 225/84 X the arms are closed to facilitate removal of the length l262447 441918 Z: C X I of a strip excess to that required to form a closed loop of a desired size. The arms also carry cooperating latching elements which lock the clip when the arms are closed and render the clip substantially tamperproof under normal conditions of usage.

6 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PAIENIEUJUU DISH .FIG.

INVENTOR STUART T. SHEARS 2 ATTORNEY SECURITY cur BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates generally to devices of the type found in US. Art Class 40, Subclasses entitled Fasteners Check, Label or Tag. In the referenced prior art classes one finds disclosures of various types of handing or tagging devices adapted to be looped and fastened about a persons limb or an object for preserving the identity of the person or object, often in relation to and for subsequent correlation with other similar identifying information relative to the person or object preserved elsewhere. Perhaps the most widely known devices of this type are the so-called hospital bands applied to the wrists of patients, particularly mothers and babies immediately after births. Typically, hospital bands are secured by rivets, eyelets or staples which render the bands substantially tamperproof but require the use of fastener setting tools by a nurse or orderly, and in some instances cause minor discomfort to the patient during the setting of the fasteners. In hospitals, clinics, laboratories, etc., there is also a need to positively identify and preserve information relative to specimens suchas blood samples, cultures and the like which aretaken from a patient and stored in vials or other specified containers for subsequent analysis. The need for positive, substantially foolproof systems for initially establishing and subsequently preserving the identifying characters printed intermittently over, the

length thereof and are receptive to the writing of additional information thereon at the time of actual usage. The tapes are also conducive to various color codings to further simplify the identification of same. Tests of this system in various medical facilities proved that the system represented a definite improvement over those previously employed. However, with a view to rendering the system even more efficient by eliminating the need for rivets, eyelets, staples and the like fasteners and the tools necessary to set same, the manufacturer approached me with the problem of designing a new fastener which could be permanently affixed to the tape strip end and supplied along with vials and tapes as a complete package and which would greatly facilitate the bandingof the tape about the limb of a patient and be substantially tamperproof. The improved security clip disclosed herein has been adopted and has proved to be a highly efficient and economical solution to the problem presented. Moreover, I am not aware of any prior art security clip or the like fastener of comparable simplified construction which will securely grip a tape or band, sever the tape strip for separation of the section fastened to the vial or container from the section utilized to band the patient's limb and provide a tamperproof connection for a loop band, all of which is readily accomplished by simple manual operation of the clip without the necessity of employing setting tools.

The foregoing discussion of the background of the invention should provide one with an understanding of the problem and designcriteria which principally motivated and gave impetus to its development. The discussion also provides a convenient reference, so to speak, for evaluating the merits of the invention vis-a-vis the prior art devices and practices. One should not, however, draw the inference that the improved security clip does not have foreseeable usage in applications other than that described above and described in detail hereinafter. For example. one can readily envision usage of the invention in conjunction with tapes for banding and identifying migratory wild life wherein the tape stripis fastened to a card on which one would record and store specific information relative to an animal. Further, one who now proceeds to a consideration of the detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which follows, in conjunction with a viewing of the accompanying drawing, will no doubt recognize that the invention lends itself to usage in almost any imaginable application wherein a severable tape strip is to be looped on itself and secured in a closed loop of a desired size.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING longitudinally from the vial and a clip according to the invention fastened to the end of the tape strip remote from the vial;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an individuals wrist having a tape loop secured thereto by the closed security clip, and further depicting the excess length of the tape strip partially severed and being torn from the tape strip section forming the loop; and

FIG. 7 is a transverse cross sectional view of the closed clip and tape loop connection taken on line 7 -7 of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An improved security clip 2 according to the invention is basically of unitary sheet metal, preferably stainless steel construction and includes a pair of arms 4 (lower) and 6 (upper) which are connected at one'end through one or more reversely bent webs or hinges 8 and are normally disposed in an open, acutely diverging attitude as is depicted most clearly in FIGS. 1 and 5. Thearms 4 and 6 may be squeezed toward one another under relatively light finger pressure and, while there is a limited amount of spring back in the hinges or webs 8 when the arms are squeezed into close proximity to one another, the arms must be forcibly pried apart against the bias of the hinges to open same to the angular extent depicted in FIG. 1. The end of the arm 4 op-" posite the hinges 8 is curled upwardly and rearwardly,

i.e., toward the hinges, to provide an arcuate lip 10 and the lip 10 has an opening 12 formed medial laterally therein and also has a slight groove or depression 14 formed in the external surface thereof adjacent the top edge 16 of the said opening. A generally cup-shaped boss 18 is drawn downwardly from the central portion of the arm 4 and the base of the boss is blanked out to provide a through aperture 20 therein. A plurality of rosette-like barbs 21 are struck from and project downwardly from the arm 4 adjacent the periphery of the boss 18. The lower arm also carries a platen 22 which is connected to a lateral marginal edge of the arm through a reversely bent bight 24 and the platen overlies a portion of the inner surface of the arm 4 in spaced, generally parallel relationship thereto. The platen 22 has a pair of aligned, open ended, generally keyhole-shaped slots 26 cut therein and extending inwardly a given distance from its opposite ends toward one another and generally paralleling the long axis of the connecting bight.

The upper arm 6, which is slightly longer than the lower arm, has a downwardly turned arcuate lip 28 at its end opposite the hinges 8 and the lip 28 carries a resilient tongue 30 projecting from the lower edge thereof rearwardly toward the hinges. When the arms are squeezed together to close the clip the lip 28 overlaps the lip on the lower arm 4 and the tongue 30 cams over the depression 14, snaps into the opening 12 andlocks beneath the top edge 16 of the opening. The locking engagement is effective to render the closed clip substantially tamperproof under normal usage conditions in that the arms must be forcibly pried apart, usually with the assistance of an appropriate flat blade tool to reopen the clip. As is best depicted in FIGS. 1 and 5, the upper arm 6 has a pair of knife blades 32 depending from a lateral marginal edge thereof. The knife blades are oriented to register with and pass through the slots 26 in the platen 22 and into the gap between the platen and the inner surface of the arm 4 when the clip is closed. As is also best depicted in FIG. 5, the clip carries a sponge rubber pad .34 which is adhesively fixed to the inner surface of the arm 4. Pad 34 is thick enough to extend slightly above the level of the platen 22 and carries a fast setting adhesive compound on its upper surface, i.e., its surface proximate the arm 6.

FIG. 5 depicts a typical assembly for which the improved clip was primarily designed wherein the clip is fastened to a tape strip 36 adacent one end and transverse the longitudinal axis of the strip, and wherein the opposite end portion of the strip is secured, preferably by an adhesive, toa capped vial 38 adapted for receipt and storage of a specimen. The tape strip 36 has a substrate of clear, synthetic plastic construction, for example, a polyester film such as DuPonts Mylar or 3M Companys Scotch Pack. The plastic strip has a paper overlay or laminate adhered to its outer or top surface and the overlay has a series of identifying characters, e.g., C.C., repetitively imprinted thereon at spaced intervals along the length of the strip. The plastic strip may be single thickness or, if need be, double thickness defining a pocket seating a card which can be withdrawn from the pocket at a severed end of the tape and reinserted into the. pocket after additional identifyto prevent relative rotation between the clip and the adjacent tape end. The eyelet or rivet shank 42 is upset to fasten the clip to the tape prior to the seating of the pad 34 in the clip. The entire assembly depicted in FIG. 5 is then packaged and shipped to the end user, for example, a hospital, clinic, laboratory, etc.

In a typical application of the depicted assembly, a nurse, having deposited a patients blood sample in the capped vial, holds the tape end and clip adjacent the upper forearm or wrist of the patient, loops the tape strip around the wrist and feeds it between the arms 4 and 6, and manually squeezes the arms together to cause the tongue 30 to snap into the lock in the aperture 12 as aforesaid. When the clip is closed and locked, the reach of the tape strip fed between the arms is clamped by the upper arm 6 against the sponge rubber pad 34, which is compressed to a degree determined by the tape thickness, and the adhesive carried by the pad bonds the said reach of the strip to the pad and through the pad to the clip arm 4. During the closing of the clip on the reach of the tape strip fed therethrough, the knife blades 32 pierce the strip and in cooperation with the edges of the slots 26 in the platen 22 sever colinear portions of the tape strip adjacent its marginal edges to permit the nurse to readily tear the tape strip to remove the section of the strip fastened to the vial from the section she has just clamped in the loop about the patients wrist. Since both the tape strip section now banded to the patient and that which remains fixed to and travels with the vial have identical identifying symbols printed thereon, a positive identification is established and preserved through thestages of transportation, storage and analysis, etc., of the blood sample. At any time during the above described procedure the nurse may, if need be, write additional information relative to the patient and/or the blood sample on the sections of tape banded to the patient and carried along with the vial. If the tape is of double thickness and carries a card insert, the card may be temporarily withdrawn, further identified, and reinserted in the pocket in the double thickness strip subsequent to the banding and severing of the tape. Since, as was mentioned above, the latching elements which lock the clip in the closed condition render it substantially tamperproof, the looped tape band will remain on the patients wrist until it has served its purpose, whereupon it may be readily cut free and discarded.

Having considered the foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, the reader will no doubt recognize the contribution to the art of the improved security clip for banding tape strips and the like. For a more precise definition of the scope of protection afforded the invention by these Letters Patent, one should now have reference to the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. A security clip comprising a first arm adapted to be fastened to a tape strip adjacent one end thereof and transverse the longitudinal axis of the strip, and a second arm hinged to said first arm and normally in open, diverging relationship with respect to said first arm, means carried by at least one of said arms for gripping portions of the tape strip when the strip is looped on itself and fed between said arms and said arms are closed by pivoting said second arm toward said first arm about said hinge, cooperating latching means carried by said arms for retaining said arms in a closed condition on the reach of the strip loop fed therethrough, and coopcrating cutting means carried by said arms operable to sever the strip during closing of said arms and thereby facilitate removal of portions of the tape strip excess to the length thereof necessary to form a closed loop of a desired size, said last mentioned means including a platen joined to a marginal edge of said first arm through a reversely bent bite and spacedly overlying the internal surface of said first arm, said platen having a relatively narrow slot formed therein and extending generally parallel to said bite, and a knife blade depending from a marginal edge of said second arm and oriented to register with said slot in said platen and pass therethrough when said arms are closed.

2. A security clip according to claim 1 wherein said platen has more than one slot formed therein and said second arm has more than one knife blade depending therefrom, each of said knife blades being oriented to register with one of said slots when said arms are closed.

3. A security clip according to claim 1 wherein said means carried by one of said arms for gripping the tape strip comprises a resilient, compressible pad fixed to the internal surface of said first arm and projecting therefrom toward said second arm, said pad carrying adhesive on its external surfaces, which adhesive is adapted to adhere to the reach of the tape strip which is fed between said arms and clamped against said pad by said second arm when said arms are closed.

4. A security clip according to claim 1 wherein the end of said second arm remote from said hinge has a resilient hook depending therefrom and the corre sponding end of said first arm has a hook receiving opening formedtherein, whereby said hook is adapted to snap into said opening when said arms are closed and seat behind and grip an edge of said first arm defining said slot, said hook and the said edge of said slot constituting said cooperating latching means carried by said arms for retaining said arms in a closed condition on the reach of the strip loop fed therebetween.

5. A security clip according to claim 1 wherein said first arm has a generally centralized opening formed in the base thereof for the receipt of a fastener element for securing said arm to a tape strip.

6. A security clip comprising a first arm adapted to be fastened to a tape strip adjacent one end thereof and transverse the longitudinal axis of the strip, said first arm having a generally centralized opening formed therein for the receipt of a fastener element for, securing said arm to the strip and having a plurality of barbs struck outwardly therefrom adjacent the periphery of said opening, said barbs being adapted to bitingly grip the strip end fastened to said arm. to maintain said clip in proper transverse orientation relative to the longitu dinal axis of the strip, and a second arm hinged to said first arm and normally in open, diverging relationship with respect to saidfirst arm, means carried by at least one of said arms for gripping portions of the tape strip when the strip is looped on itself and fed between said arms and said arms are closed by' pivotingsaid second arm toward said first arm about said hinge, cooperating latching means carried by said arms for retaining said arms in a closed condition on the reach of thestrip loop fed therethrough, and cooperating cutting means carried by said arms operable to sever the strip during closing of said arms and thereby facilitate removal of portions of the tape strip excess to the length thereof necessary to form a closed loop of a desired size. 

1. A security clip comprising a first arm adapted to be fastened to a tape strip adjacent one end thereof and transverse the longitudinal axis of the strip, and a second arm hinged to said first arm and normally in open, diverging relationship with respect to said first arm, means carried by at least one of said arms for gripping portions of the tape strip when the strip is looped on itself and fed between said arms and said arms are closed by pivoting said second arm toward said first arm about said hinge, cooperating latching means carried by said arms for retaining said arms in a closed condition on the reach of the strip loop fed therethrough, and cooperating cutting means carried by said arms operable to sever the strip during closing of said arms and thereby facilitate removal of portions of the tape strip excess to the length thereof necessary to form a closed loop of a desired size, said last mentioned means including a platen joined to a marginal edge of said first arm through a reversely bent bite and spacedly overlying the internal surface of said first arm, said platen having a relatively narrow slot formed therein and extending generally parallel to said bite, and a knife blade depending from a marginal edge of said second arm and oriented to register with said slot in said platen and pass therethrough when said arms are closed.
 2. A security clip according to claim 1 wherein said platen has more than one slot formed therein and said second arm has more than one knife blade depending therefrom, each of said knife blades being oriented to register with one of said slots when said arms are closed.
 3. A security clip according to claim 1 wherein said means carried by one of said arms for gripping the tape strip comprises a resilient, compressible pad fixed to the internal surface of said first arm and projecting therefrom toward said second arm, said pad carrying adhesive on its external surfaces, which adhesive is adapted to adhere to the reach of the tape strip which is fed between said arms and clamped against said pad by said second arm when said arms are closed.
 4. A security clip according to claim 1 wherein the end of said second arm remote from said hinge has a resilient hook depending therefrom and the corresponding end of said first arm has a hook receiving opening formed therein, whereby said hook is adapted to snap into said opening when said arms are closed and seat behind and grip an edge of said first arm defining said slot, said hook and the said edge of said slot constituting said cooperating latching means carried by said arms for retaining said arms in a closed condition on the reach of the strip loop fed therebetween.
 5. A security clip according to claim 1 wherein said first arm has a generally centralized opening formed in the base thereof for the receipt of a fastener element for securing said arm to a tape strip.
 6. A security clip comprising a first arm adapted to be fastened to a tape strip adjacent one end thereof and transverse the longitudinal axis of the strip, said first arm having a generally centralized opening formed therein for the receipt of a fastener element for securing said arm to the strip and having a plurality of barbs struck outwardly therefrom adjacent the periphery of said opening, said barbs being adapted to bitingly grip the strip end fastened to said arm to maintain said clip in proper transverse orientation relative to the longitudinal axis of the strip, and a second arm hinged to said first arm and normally in open, diverging relationship with respect to said first arm, means carried by at least one of said arms for gripping portions of the tape strip when the strip is looped on itself and fed between said arms and said arms are closed by pivoting said second arm toward said first arm about said hinge, cooperating latching means carried by said arms for retaining said arms in a closed condition on the reach of the strip loop fed therethrough, and cooperating cutting means carried by said arms operable to sever the strip during closing of said arms and thereby facilitate removal of portions of the tape strip excess to the length thereof necessary to form a closed loop of a desired size. 